The hellion counterattacked the Shepherd almost immediately, using his superior speed and agility in order to deal swift blows to the human. Sorey quickly found himself on the defensive, as he was parrying strike after strike from the Hellion. He surprised himself while doing so. For you see, the last time he and the Hellion fought, the Shepherd had had a hard time keeping up with the fox. Now, however, it was almost like the assassin was slower than he had been the previous day. Was this because he had still to fully recover from the blows dealt with him by Symonne?
Whatever the case, Sorey wasn't about to let this opportunity go to waste. Parrying yet another strike, Sorey pushed his opponent back with his blade and took the offensive once again. Sadly the Hellion was by far more experienced as the human. Seeing an immediate opening, Lunarre shot forward with his left arm, his blades aiming at Sorey's right shoulder.
Too late the human noticed the metal swiftly approaching his shoulder.
"Ah!" The young man screamed in pain as the dagger easily pierced his new clothes as well as his flesh. Almost immediately the white-robed began to turn red, due to Sorey's life essence flowing out of him.
"Sorey!" he heard his Seraph friends shout behind him. Several audience members gasped or screamed in shock.
"Ehehe, you're in over your head, boy," the Hellion taunted the human.
"Oh really?" Sorey asked, glaring at the assassin, before out of nowhere, he rammed his injured shoulder against the Hellions face. Both fighters screamed in pain, Sorey more so than Lunarre, as the dagger was still stuck on his shoulder. The fox in the meantime staggered backward, holding his now free hand against his cheek. A little bit of blood dropped out of his mouth, due to him having accidentally bitten his tongue. He regained his composure just in time to see the Shepherd charging right at him, his own weapon still stuck in the human's shoulder.
Sorey let out an unholy scream of rage, as he held his sword with both hands. He didn't know how he managed to keep fighting, but quite frankly, he didn't care at the moment. With only one dagger left and no room to dodge, Lunarre barely managed to block the incoming assault of strikes that Sorey quite literally hammered down on him. Unlike during their previous encounters, however, the attacks were without grace or precision for that matter. It appeared as if the wound had severely limited Sorey's options for attacks, but apparently, this didn't seem to slow down the Shepherd in any way. If anything, it appeared as if he was attacking with more vigor than before.
"Sorey, what are you doing?!" Mikleo shouted in surprise and shock. "You need to run away, you're injured!"
"You'll only make it worse, you idiot!" Symonne shouted after him, but to the surprise of both, he didn't listen. "What's wrong with him? He knows we can't help him out now!" Symonne growled.
"I don't know. He has never acted this way," Mikleo replied in a helpless manner.
"He is fighting like he has been possessed," Lailah muttered under her breath.
Lunarre in the meantime decided he had had enough. With a daring jump, he rolled right behind the Shepherd, who managed to cut a few hairpieces off the rolling Hellion. The Shepherd's blade hit the cobblestone ground, sending vibrations right through his arms. He grunted in pain as those vibrations reached his still bleeding wound.
"Sorey, watch out!" shouted Mikleo. Lunarre had been about to use the dizziness the Shepherd was going through and was ready to give his opponent a fatal step in the back. Luckily it appeared as if the warning had come just in time. With whatever inhuman durability Sorey was mustering up this day, he raised his sword and turned around and managed to block the attack at the last possible moment. However, the effects of the blood loss were starting to take a toll on the human. He couldn't hold his sword any longer, not even with two hands. The blade became too heavy for him to handle and he dropped it unceremoniously to the ground. Several gasps could be heard from the audience, who just kept watching the spectacle. Mikleo, being fed up with doing nothing, immediately positioned himself between Sorey and the Hellion. He held his staff defensively. Lunarre acted as if the Seraphim wasn't even there.
"Ehehehe, looks like your journey finds an early end, Shepherd. Any last words?"
"Now!" The voice came from neither Sorey nor Mikleo. In fact, from the sound of things, the voice appeared to have come from behind the two. Mikleo barely saw the round, dark objects hitting the ground, before they suddenly exploded in rapid succession, covering the area in smoke. The sudden appearance of the smoke, as well as the noise of the explosions, had an immediate effect on the civilians. They screamed in shock and fear, more than a few people shouted: "Fire!", which ultimately resulted in a mass panic.
The citizens ran around like chickens who had their heads cut off, trying to get as far away from the area with the supposed fire. Due to the lack of any kind of organized evacuation, the people hindered themselves and the incoming guard force. Sorey, Lunarre and all of the Seraphim present didn't notice much of the happenstances around them. All of them had been caught off guard in the smoke and were coughing heavily. Sorey had fallen to the ground, his opponent was stumbling around until one of the other assassins managed to knock him out.
"I got him. Let's get out of here," was all that the Shepherd and his Seraphim heard before the assassins disappeared for good this time. As the smoke cleared, it revealed an almost complete desolate plaza. Sorey was still lying on the ground and bleeding, Mikleo had fallen to his knees, due to stumbling over a basket that someone had dropped. Lailah and Symonne had been knocked to the ground in the confusion and were just getting back up. All of them were breathing heavily, due to them having breathed in a good amount of smoke.
Sorey coughed heavily, his shoulder aching as he did so. "Ow… that…hurts…" the human growled, reaching his injured shoulder with his hand. It was then that he noticed that the dagger was still stuck in there.
"Don't move!" Lailah exclaimed and quickly ran up to her grounded vessel. Mikleo and Symonne followed suit.
"We need to pull the dagger out!" Mikleo exclaimed.
"Careful," Symonne admonished "this dagger is acting as a plug. Once we pull it out, even more blood will stream out. We'll have to be quick with our healing artes."
"We also need to clean the wound first, lest we risk his shoulder getting infected," Lailah reminded them all.
"I can do that with my water artes," Mikleo informed his fellow Seraphim.
"Good." Lailah nodded. "Then I'll heal him."
"And I take out the dagger." Symonne got into position and looked down on the pained expression of the Shepherd. "This will hurt. A lot," she told him.
"Can't be worse than Mikleo's cooking," the human joked in return and chuckled weakly.
"Okay, I guess I'll have all of the chocolate cake to myself."
"Hey, no fair."
"We can joke later. I'll pull out the dagger on three. One, two-"
"The Shepherd!" someone shouted, interrupting the Seraphim in their work. "The Shepherd is injured! I need a doctor!" Looking up, the Seraph trio saw that one of the guards had arrived on the scene and was quickly approaching the grounded human. Symonne, Lailah, and Mikleo managed to get out of the way just in time before the guardsman fell on his knees and inspected Sorey's body from top to bottom.
"Shepherd, Shepherd! Can you hear me?!" The guardsman gently shook Sorey's body, who groaned in pain.
"Yeah…sorry. I don't… feel very…. talkative… right now…" Sorey responded in a lighthearted fashion.
"Hang in there, Shepherd. I will take you to a doctor." The guardsman carefully took Sorey in his arms, bridal style and ran as quickly as he could towards the palace grounds.
"Damn it! We have to follow him!" While Mikleo shouted those words, he was already on the run. Symonne and Lailah gave each other a quick look, before following him.
"At the rate, Sorey is getting into fights, he might state the record of the Shepherd who had been alive the shortest," Symonne commented to herself.
XXX
Sorey oh so wished that he had lost consciousness because the pain he experienced before was nothing compared to what he was going through right now. The doctor had come to the same conclusion as the three other Seraphim, namely that he had to take swift actions in order to save the young man's life. As such, he had taken out the dagger without any warning and went ahead to clean the wound with water and clean cloths. He never used the same cloth twice and asked the servants of the house owner to bring him fresh water on a regular basis. At least he had been considered enough to give Sorey a thick piece of wood to bite into, although this was more of a precaution, so the patient didn't accidentally bit off his tongue.
Alisha, who had been generous enough to offer her housings, watched from the doorframe with a worried expression. She hadn't been part of the guard forces chasing the assassins, a direct order from her guard superiors, seeing as she was a potential target. But she pretty much didn't listen. A good thing too, since she came across her guard colleague carrying the Shepherd and told him to bring Sorey to her house. She would probably face repercussions very soon for not following orders, but that was something she could live with.
"You're very lucky, you know that?" the doctor told Sorey, as he cleaned the wound. "The dagger didn't pierce through your blood vessel, so your shoulder should heal just fine, once I am done." The doctor carelessly threw the used cloth away and went to his bag. He took out some clean bandages, as well as some gel, went back to the Shepherd and proceeded to rub the gel on the wound. Sorey would have howled if he could.
"Sorry, but if you plan to use your arm anytime soon, the gel is absolutely necessary. It is interesting, you know? The recipe for creating gel hasn't changed in over millennia, not because people haven't tried to create a better formula, but because it seems as if we have reached already the maximum potential of what we can do with gels."
Any other time Sorey would have found this tidbit of history interesting. But right now he was too distracted by the pain going through his shoulder. When the doctor was done with the gel, he finally grabbed the bandages and wrapped them around the shoulder.
"Almost done, Shepherd. We can't let you die on the first day of the job, can we?" the doctor joked. "I sure hope the legends of the Seraphim and their healing magic are correct because I won't be able to fix you up every time."
Sorey let out a breath through his nose in relief. The numb pain he was experiencing now through the pressure of the bandages, was nothing compared to ten seconds ago. In a way, this kind of pain was strangely comforting, knowing that his suffering had come to an end.
"There we go," the doctor tied the bandages up in a tight know, so they wouldn't come off that easily. He took the wooden stick out of Sorey's mouth, who swiftly proceeded to spit out the few tiny barks that had settled on his tongue.
"Thank you… friend," Sorey looked thankful at the doctor, who just smiled in return.
"It is no problem, Shepherd. After all, it is the duty of a doctor to save lives. Have a good rest, Shepherd. You need it."
To this, Sorey had to laugh. "I just woke up this morning from three days of sleep."
The doctor chuckled in return. "Well, I guess I can allow you to walk around. But not more and not by much. You need to rest the wound a little bit, so your body can repair the damage efficiently. Also, try not to strain your shoulder more than necessary, until your wound is fully healed."
"Okay, thanks again, doctor."
"Not a problem. Farwell Shepherd. I hope the next time we meet, it will be under more pleasant circumstances."
The doctor turned around and left the room. Outside, he paused in front of the princess and spoke to her. "I recommend changing the bandages at least every second day. Also, someone should rub new gel on the wound before doing so. It will speed up the healing process tremendously."
"Thank you for your help, doctor," Alisha bowed her head. "Be assured, you will be paid for your expenses."
"I appreciate it, Princess Alisha. But rest assured, I would have helped him even without payment. Like I told the Shepherd, it is the duty of a doctor to save lives."
"That is very noble of you. We were lucky you happened to be in town. Calling one of the royal physicians would have taken longer and by then it probably would have been too late."
"You flatter me, Princess. But I am sure my colleagues would have done just as good of a job, if not a better one than me. Well, I am very sorry, but I have to cut this conversation short. I have heard there is a disease going around in the nearby village and I wish to help in any way I can."
"Certainly, doctor. Though, I am not sure if you can reach it as of now." Alisha frowned. "A recent storm destroyed the bridge leading to the village. Repairs have been ordered, but I am not sure if they're done as of now."
"That is most unfortunate," the doctor said, frowning himself. "But thank you for the forewarning, Princess. I'll be on my way then. With any luck, the workers have built a provisional bridge that I can use. Have a good day."
"Wait!" Alisha shouted after the doctor, who stopped at the door that led outside into the noble district. "I just noticed, you never told me your name."
"Ah. My apologies. In all the hurry, it must have slipped my mind. My name is Crowe, Laphicet Crowe. Doctor and prideful self-proclaimed scholar," the blond young man with the amber-colored eyes introduced himself with a bow.
"Prideful self-proclaimed scholar?" Alisha questioned, not being able to hide the amusement in her voice.
"Yes, you see, I have been gathering knowledge about practically anything since I was a child. It has always been my dream to wander the world and discover new things," he chuckled, shaking his head. "My sister told me I should get myself a wife, who can cook and settle down, but that was not a life for me."
"So, if you wanted to become a wandering scholar, why are you a doctor now?" the princess asked, causing Doctor Crowe to chuckle again.
"That would be my sister's fault. Our parents died, when we were relatively young, as such she, my other sister, my step-brother and me had to take care of ourselves. She hunted practically every day and oftentimes came back with all kinds of injuries. As such, I gained practical medical knowledge at a very young age. And with that, I thought to myself: Why shouldn't I just become a wandering doctor?"
"I see." Alisha was clearly fascinated, but also a little sad about the unusual background of the doctor. "I am sorry for your loss."
"Don't be," the young doctor waved off. "It's all in the past. We need to let the past go eventually in order to move on. Now then, this has been a pleasant talk, but I really should get going. Farewell, Princess."
"Farewell doctor. And safe travels."
"Thank you," the doctor bowed his head, before finally leaving the house. Once he was outside and on the road, Laphicet noticed that there were a lot of patrols going around the streets. Just by passing by, he could hear how several people were questioned about the assassins, not only the one that escaped but his cohorts as well. Once he was on the streets where the common people went on with their day to day basis, he could hear the distress coming from their collective voices. The fact that an assassin escaped from the prison and the fact that the Shepherd got injured by said assassin had a lasting effect on the overall mood of the people.
"You have a lot of work to do, Shepherd Sorey," Laphicet mumbled to himself. "Let's just hope you will do a better job than your predecessor."
XXX
Bienfu wasn't sure what he should think off, as he watched Velvet reading through one of the many documents that were scattered across her desk. She was really dedicated too, reading through every single line, putting a wax-emblem on it and signing the document with her own name or just downright refusing it by crossing the entire text out.
On the one hand, this was just like Velvet. Dedicated to her work, not signing anything rashly, but rather going through everything thoroughly, before deciding what to do with it. On the other hand, this was just so unlike Velvet! Bienfu just couldn't picture the Lord of Calamity doing deskwork and yet here she was doing it right in front of him! Velvet was a person who took action, who did everything herself, if at all possible and only relied on others when she was out of her element.
Bienfu sighed and closed the book he had been reading. He couldn't focus on it anyway, not with everything that Velvet had told him, ever since their encounter in the library. He turned his head towards the window, where he could see a flock of birds flying outside. He wondered what Miss Magilou would think about the entire situation until he realized that she would probably laugh until she was out of breath. Afterwards, she would insist on becoming Velvet's court jester or something like that and probably irritate the Lord of Calamity, whenever she was busy with something mundane, like the aforementioned paperwork.
"What?" he heard Velvet suddenly speak up. Looking at her, he could see her holding one of the documents in her hand. "Why do they think I would approve of that? Sometimes I wonder what they teach nobles these days..." With a swift movement of her feather, the document was rejected and placed on a pile specifically designated for those kinds of documents.
Bienfu decided to get off and jumped on the desk Velvet was working on. She didn't really seem to mind or probably didn't notice, as she was busy reading through the next piece of paper already. Curiously, Bienfu picked up one of the papers and skimmed through it. Apparently, this was a request from Captain Sergei, asking for additional funds for his knightly order. As for reasons, he claimed that with the increasing tensions between the various kingdoms, the military should be brought up to date with the newest weapons and armor, in case of a conflict. Bienfu could definitely see Velvet approving this request. She had always been vigilant when it came to the group's own equipment and oftentimes even consulted Rokurou a lot when it came to new blades for her gauntlet.
"Boring, isn't it?" Velvet spoke out all of the sudden, getting Bienfu's attention. The Normin turned around and looked up at Velvet.
"Yeah." He didn't even try to deny it. "It was way more fun helping out on a pirate ship. We would sing, tell stories and jokes, it made work a lot of fun."
"Well, I can't really entrust you with any of that," Velvet motioned all over her desk "but I think I have something else for you."
"Really? You do?" he asked in an exciting matter.
"Mhm. As of late, someone has been selling "Elixir" to the noble houses at a steep price. I decided to buy one of the bottles myself and tested it."
"Huh, but, you can't taste things. Or can you?" Bienfu asked, tilting his head.
"I may not be able to taste anything, but blood, but I can still feel the effects of actual Elixir," Velvet informed the Normin. "Whatever that was, it was not Elixir. Someone is making a huge amount of money with this scam and I would very much like to know who thinks he can do that right under my nose. I can't rely on the obvious methods for this investigation, as the two of us know how easy it is to bribe guards."
Bienfu nodded, understanding. Back in the day, the Shadow Guild had a lot of guardsmen in their service. Guards were oftentimes bored, underpaid or both, so by adding a little excitement and money to their life was often enough to secure their loyalty.
"You want me to find out who's behind this?"
"Yes." Velvet shoved her chair back and stood up. "I will give you all of the information I have managed to gather on my own, but it's not much."
"Don't worry, Velvet. Secret Agent Bienfu is ready to do anything for your cooking!"
At this Velvet had to laugh. "I should have figured."